KHAR (Bajaur Agency), Sept 1: Five people, including three security personnel, were killed and nine others injured in a suicide attack in the Mamond tehsil, 14km from here, on Saturday.

Officials and witnesses said two people ploughed their explosive-laden car into a truck of the Bajaur Scouts in Mamond tehsil’s Omari area, killing Subedar Noor Khatam on the spot and injuring 11 others, including four soldiers.

Soldiers Liaquat and Omar Afridi, Saleem Khan and another person whose name could not be ascertained died in the Agency Headquarters Hospital, medical superintendent Dr Ameer Khan said.

The injured were identified as soldiers Farooq Shah and Abdul Aziz and civilians Jabbar, Ismail, Najeebullah, Hayat, Mohammad Amin and Mohammad Hayan. The name of one injured civilian could not be known.

Nawagai’s assistant political agent Mohammad Jameel Khan said the truck carrying security personnel was attacked at around 10am.

Witnesses said the truck was destroyed and parts of the soldiers’ bodies were scattered all over the site.

Soon after the attack, a man claiming to speak for the local Taliban called local journalists from an unspecific location and told them that the attack should not be written as ‘suicide attack’, but as ‘fidai attack’.

Officials said security had been tightened in the Bajaur Agency after the attack and security forces targeted suspected militant hideouts with mortars for two hours.

Meanwhile, four people were injured when security forces clashed with militants in Mamond tehsil’s Badan area. Officials said the militants were forcibly setting up a checkpoint near an official checkpost, which triggered the exchange of fire.